Another visual curriculum map and a quick lesson on buying learning online

Just in case you’re still interested in visual thinking, here’s another curriculum map.

First, an update on the course I was taking on Graphic Facilitation. For me, it was a bust. It was a course taught by a seasoned professional who didn’t have the heart of an educator.

Educators are generous with their knowledge and with their audience. This guy wasn’t. Most learner requests or suggestions were answered with a quick “No, we’re not doing that.” Often the response was that we were the test group so we were half price and shouldn’t feel as if we would get the full package. Or that they were really busy right now with their business and family and couldn’t really do more. Sorry. A variety of “No” answers.

I quit halfway through. I have to admit that I probably knew from the first paid course I took from this same group that this wasn’t going to be a great experience. However, I hoped I was wrong ’cause this was a more expensive offer. It wasn’t. Yeah, I fell twice. And now, NEVER AGAIN.

I am now taking a different paid online course, called Butts in Seats by Daphne Bosquet. It’s about how to market a workshop. . . to the right audience.

Here’s the lesson. It’s about buying decision making and it’s a bit of a “Duh.”

If you are going to spend a significant amount of money on an online learning product, do your research. If there is a free offering, check it out. If the free one doesn’t share BIG value with you, don’t sign up for the paid one. This is also true for white papers and research. If they don’t offer big value as a trial, they’re not going to offer big value. Period.

I tried Daphne out by taking her free one hour webinar where she shares 5 marketing tips for filling a workshop. It was BRILLIANT!!! There were at least three tips that I walked away with that had BIG value. Two I might have come up with on my own, but the one was a mind blower. And it was practical. 1. Do this, 2.go here to do it 3. here’s what it will cost 4. here’s what you do once you have it.

The result of her generosity is that I have since signed up and paid for her Butts in Seats workshop and I’ve attended the first session. Again, she delivers value beyond the cost, from the first encounter.

My buying lesson is, if it’s not great from the start, it’s likely not going to get better. If there isn’t a free sample offered that blows you away, the chance that it will blow you away once you pay for it is slim. My selling lesson is, if you sell an online course (or any kind of course) based on your expertise, you have opened a window into the value of a relationship with you. Deliver big value or risk your reputation.

Okay, enough. That map. I put these up here so that you can steal any metaphor images you like and add them to your collection.